The pale light of morning filtered through the cracks in the rock, illuminating the dust dancing in the air. After the exhausting training, the group busied themselves with maintaining their equipment. Alex, seated on a smooth stone, focused on meticulously cleaning his pistol; the hostile cave environment was a silent enemy, constantly trying to jam the mechanisms with sand and soot.
Beside him, Foxy slid a whetstone along the edge of his hunting knife with rhythmic, lethal movements. His eyes, however, were not on the blade, but on Dante, who persisted with the fundamentals from the previous day.
"You're making progress, blondie," Foxy remarked, his tone wavering between acidic sarcasm and rare seriousness. "But your stance is still an invitation to disaster. A weak base makes you slow and vulnerable. If a real fight breaks out right now, you'll hate the consequences of arching your back like that."
Dante wiped the sweat from his forehead, breathing heavily, while Harry—immersed in maps and notes—looked up.
"Foxy… is it true what they say?" Harry hesitated for a second. "Are you really the 'Black-Eyed Reaper'?"
The whetstone stopped for an instant. Foxy gave a crooked, humorless smile. "I once wore that title. Honestly? It's just the romanticization of chaos. I didn't start reaping lives because it was fun—though over time, the adrenaline became addictive. But let's keep the ghosts of the past locked away for now. We have living problems to deal with."
In the darkest corner of the cave, Yuki watched Alex. She pressed her hands to her chest, feeling her heart hammer against her ribs. Gathering her courage, she approached him.
"Alex…" her voice was barely a whisper, heavy with a shyness that contrasted sharply with the danger outside. "Can we talk? Alone?"
Alex looked up. Dark circles ringed his eyes, a physical map of accumulated exhaustion. He clenched and unclenched his fingers to ease the tension and nodded. "Yeah, of course."
He stood, wiping the oil from the weapon onto his pants, and followed her outside the cave.
"Looks like things are heating up—and not because of the sun!" Foxy mocked with a low chuckle.
"Wait, are you suggesting that they—" Dante began, interrupting his training with a genuinely confused expression.
"Don't even finish that sentence, Dante," Harry cut in, without lifting his eyes from Salazar's documents as he tried to trace a viable route through the cryptic coordinates. "Focus on what matters."
"Let the kid dream, redhead," Foxy teased, testing the knife's edge against his thumb. "Perfect. Ready to cut through whatever comes our way."
Elisa, who until then had only been studying the map over Harry's shoulder, let out a heavy sigh. "It's impressive. Alex is a survival genius, but completely illiterate when it comes to the human heart."
Confession Under the Open Sky
Outside, the wind blew sharp and cold. Yuki stopped with her back to Alex, her shoulders slightly hunched.
"Alex, I know my behavior seems… suspicious to you," she paused, the words weighing like tons. "And even a little frightening at times. But I truly want to protect you. Even if you hate me for it—or for who I am."
Her cheeks burned a vivid scarlet. Alex felt a stab of guilt in his chest. Melancholy crept into his voice as he replied:
"I don't… Look, Yuki, I don't hate you. I just couldn't understand why you cared so much. Back in school, I was just 'the loner' everyone made a point of avoiding. Why would you—of all people—insist on me when you had the world at your feet?"
Yuki turned sharply, her eyes shining with a mix of urgency and hurt. "Exactly because of that! Everyone there was a parasite chasing status, desperate for a minute of attention from the 'school princess.' But you were the only real one, Alex. You never cared about my last name or my family's fortune. You saw me—not my inheritance."
She stepped forward, her breath short. "That's why… I—I fell in love with you."
The silence that followed was deafening. Before Alex's neurons could process the confession, Yuki turned and ran back into the cave, leaving him alone with the sound of the wind.
Was that… real? Did she really say that, or is exhaustion making me hallucinate? Alex thought, his chest rising and falling. He stood frozen for several minutes until a new flame ignited in his gaze. Doubt gave way to fierce determination.
He reentered the cave with heavy, resolute steps. Yuki was curled up in her corner, avoiding eye contact. Alex walked to her under the group's curious stares and sat beside her, firmly taking her hand.
"I promise you," he said, his voice low but charged with unshakable strength. "We're getting out of this hell—even if I have to blow every wall in this place apart. What you said… meant more than I can explain right now."
He stood. His eyes no longer showed only exhaustion; they burned with renewed purpose. He was no longer fighting just to survive, but to ensure that the future Yuki envisioned would become real.
"Nice move, stud," Foxy smirked, giving a discreet clap. "Love is one hell of a fuel, isn't it?"
Alex ignored the provocation and looked at the group, the leader reclaiming his place. "Enough rest. We're moving. We need to find Salazar's hideout now. We don't know how much time we have before Smith starts his little game. Harry, explain."
The Crossing and John's Silence
"Harry's right," Alex interjected, adjusting his gear. "I've already charted a safe route. We need to leave immediately. If there's any resource in that hideout that gives us an edge in this game, we have to find it before anyone else."
Harry nodded, slipping into his usual strategist's posture, his eyes scanning the map one last time. Once preparations were complete, the group left the cave's gloom. The impact of sunlight was immediate; Dante, Elisa, and Harry squinted, bothered by the intense brightness after hours of confinement. Foxy, shielded by his dark glasses, simply gave a crooked smile, watching his companions' discomfort.
"Everyone, formation," Harry commanded, his voice projecting authority. "We'll maintain a 360-degree perimeter—we can't afford blind spots. Dante, you're on point; your reflexes are the fastest if something jumps out of nowhere. Alex, you flank Dante. Yuki and Elisa stay protected in the center, and Foxy and I cover the rear. That way, we monitor all fronts simultaneously."
"Makes sense," Alex agreed, checking his ammunition. "We don't know the whereabouts of the other two groups, or whether John and his men are still hunting in this forest."
With the formation set, the group plunged into the dense vegetation.
The Other Side: Smith's Silence
Meanwhile, in the icy comfort of a hotel room, the atmosphere was thick with silent tension. John performed maintenance on his equipment with surgical mastery, the metallic clicks forming a steady rhythm.
"Guys, isn't this too quiet?" Lance broke the silence, uneasy. "Smith hasn't given a sign—no new rules, no sadistic game starting today. This 'peace' makes me more nervous than combat."
John didn't lift his eyes from his weapon. "Don't be rash, Lance. Most of Smith's games bloom in the shadows of the night. We don't know his next move, or when the board will turn. The only certainty is that when hell begins, we need to be armed and ready."
The Wall of Vines
The journey toward the hideout continued with an unsettling calm. Along the way, Yuki proved her worth, identifying plants and signaling which fruits were edible. She pointed out a bush of dark berries, warning they were highly poisonous—Alex, however, made a point of collecting some, carefully storing them; in a survival game, a well-used poison can be as lethal as a bullet.
Finally, after hours of walking, the group stopped before an immense rock wall. The map indicated that exact spot, but at first glance there was nothing but stone and moss.
However, when they pushed aside a thick curtain of ancient vines snaking across the mountainside, the hidden entrance revealed itself. A dark, cold fissure invited them into the depths.
What kinds of mysteries did Salazar hide down here? Alex thought, a chill running down his spine. Beside him, Yuki stayed close—visibly more at ease after the confession, yet her senses sharpened for whatever might be lurking in the mountain's darkness.